right, and upon a writ requiring the party to per- form his covenant; although a fine may be levied upon any writ by which lands may be demanded, charged, or bound. It has also been defined an ac- knowledgment on record of a previous gift or feoff- ment, and prima facie carries a fee, although it may be limited to an estate for life or in fee-tail. Prest. Conv. 200, 202, 268, 269; 2 Bla. Com. 348. The stat. 18 Edw. I., called modus levandi fines, declares and regulates the manner in which they should be levied and carried on; and that is as follows: The party to whom the land is conveyed or assured commences an action at law against the other, generally an action of covenant, by suing out a writ of præcipe, called a writ of covenant, that the one shall convey the lands to the other, on the breach of which agreement the action is brought. The suit being thus commenced, then follows the licentia concordandi, or leave to compromise the suit. The concord, or agreement itself, after leave obtained by the court: this is usually an acknowl- edgment from the deforciants that the lands in question are the lands of the complainants. The note of the fine, which is only an abstract of the writ of covenant and the concord; naming the parties, the parcels of land, and the agreement. The foot of the fine, or the conclusion of it, which includes the whole matter, reciting the parties, day, year, and place, and before whom it was acknowl- edged or levied. See Cruise, Fines; Bacon, Abr. Fines and Recoveries; Comyns, Dig. Fine. In Corporation Law. A term applied to the charge made against a member of a building and loan association who fails to make his monthly payment when due. It has been lately held, that such fines are not by way of penalty, but are rather to be considered as liquidated damages, fixed by consent of the parties, for the loss sustained by the association by reason of the failure of the defaulting member to make prompt payment, and since such payments are es- sential to the success of the plan of the as- sociation, and for the interest of its mem- bers as a whole, the fines will be enforced, independently of statutory provisions, if reasonable in amount and equitable in their application; 36 S. W. Rep. (Ark.) 1085. This case also holds that a fine of "ten cents per share, to be imposed for each and every month that payment is not made," is reasonable. It has also been held that where the by-law provides for a fine of twenty cents per month on each one hun- dred dollars borrowed, the fine for one month is not repeated and added to that of each succeeding month, but only twenty cents on each one hundred dollars can be imposed in any one month; and when the constitution of a building association pre- scribes the fines to be imposed on delin- quent members, it thereby fixes, the limit beyond which the association cannot go; but it may by by-law waive some part of the fines so authorized, and impose smaller ones, and in that case the by-law will govern; 25 S. E. Rep. (W. Va.) 537. In Criminal Law. Pecuniary punish- ment imposed by a lawful tribunal upon a person convicted of crime or misdemeanor. See Shepp. Touchst. 2; Bacon, Abr. Fines and Amercements; 1 Bish. Cr. L. § 940. It may include a forfeiture or penalty recov- erable in a civil action; 11 Gray 373; 6 Neb. 37. The amount of the fine is frequently left to the discretion of the court, who ought to proportion the fine to the offence. To prevent the abuse of excessive fines, the constitution of the United States directs that "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Amendm. to the Constitution, art. 8; Cooley, Const. Lim. 377. This applies to national and not to state legislation; 5 Wall. 480; 7 Pet. 243. The supreme court cannot, on habeas corpus, revise the sentence of an inferior court on the ground that the fine was excessive: 7 Pet. 568. See INDENTURE OF A FINE; COGNISOR; COGNISEÊ; JOINT FINE.